Chambers opens softball, baseball seasons
BY KATIE MCELVY
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Chambers Academy’s softball and baseball teams kicked off the season with momentum, highlighted by two dominant Lady Rebels wins and a narrow 3-2 Rebel baseball victory.
Lady Rebels Softball
The Lady Rebels kicked off their season going 2-1 in the first week. Chambers opened with The Rock Academy and captured a big 21-0 win. Peyton Earl sat down all three batters in the top of the first. An Earl double and an Abigail Downey single coupled with several walks propelled Chambers to a 12-0 lead at the end of the first. Tenley Benefield took the mound next for the Lady Rebels and only surrendered one hit while striking out two. The Lady Rebels then added nine more runs in the bottom of the second. Samantha Lovelace closed the game, striking out one. Sydney Carter turned a double play giving Chambers the win in a run rule.
The next day, the Lady Rebels failed to get hits going, facing the tough pitching of Bessemer Academy and falling 0-8. They bounced back the next game against Hope Christian, pulling a 17-2 win on the road. Allie Paschal, Lovelace and Blakely Allen all recorded doubles while Downey, Emmalee Jackson and Madison Davis all added singles.
Rebel Baseball
Chambers opened in a tight contest on the road with Hope Christian. The Saints’ pitching staff started off a little shaky, loading up the bases with Rebels, but a strikeout and a double play kept Chambers scoreless in the first. Colton Fuller took the mound for the Rebels, striking out two in the first and allowing no hits.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Hope Christian knocked in two batters to take the lead. Chambers answered back in the top of the fifth. With two outs on the board, the Rebels rallied. Fuller singled, and Peyton Yerta hit him in on a fly ball to right field. Eli Whorton then tripled sending in Yerta to tie up the game. Landon Hand followed with an RBI single to take the lead in the game.
With bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, the Saints were knocking, but Sam Smith came in big on the mound striking out two. Whorton also tagged a runner out in an attempted steal of home to keep the Rebels in the lead. Drew Sheppard closed for Chambers on the mound, keeping the 3-2 lead intact to give the Rebels a win in the opener.
